At the beginning of the '70s Alfa Romeo was thinking to design a medium-sized FWD car, quite a revolution for the Alfisti.
After many projects in 1971 the Alfasud was born, a medium-sized FWD with four disc brakes and a brand new 1186 cc boxer engine. The name Alfasud was motivated by the fact that these cars were produced at the new Pomigliano d'Arco A.R. plants near Naples, in the South (hence Sud) of Italy.
The Alfasud was a very original and brilliant idea and the success was almost immediate. It lasted for 12 years before it was replaced by the 33 back in 1983.
It is quite difficult to find old Alfasuds, Suds for short, in good conditions as rust was a serious problem for these cars.
Rather interesting collectible Suds are the Ti and the Sprints (Veloce, Quadrifoglio verde) which are quite easy to find.

The 33, that took its name fom an ancient AR racing car named Model 33, has been produced in several versions though the real distinction has to be done between the pre-1990 and the after-1990 33s.
Indeed, in 1990 a major restyling was made which allowed to extend the production of this car until the first half of 1995.

The restyling was quite radical for the body of the car while the frame was similar to the previous series.
Alfa Romeo designers wanted to give to the new 33 a modern look so they made it quite 164-ish, especially the rear end where the tail lights were linked together with a long reflector-like red strip.
But, better than to describe it in words you should take a look at our gallery of photos.
The boxer engines used were: the 1351 cc, the 1490 cc, the 1712 cc, and a brand new 1712 twin-cam 16 valves. A 3-cylinders 1779cc Turbodiesel by VM was available too.
The smaller engines (1.3 and 1.5) had dual carburettors but later, between '91 and '92, they were equipped with fuel electronic injection and catalytic converter.
The 1.7 and 1.7 16V had electronic injection (Bosch Motronic) right from the start (though a 1.7 with carbs was available in the latest pre-'90 series).
These two engines were equipped with cat converters at the end of the 1990 but non-cat version were available till the end of '91.
The 1.7 16V was a piece of art: it delivered 133 bhp (129 with cat) giving an impressive, being a non-turbocharged engine, 78 bhp per litre ratio and 7.5 kg per bhp.
It equipped both the 16V and the 16V Quadrifoglio Verde (Green Cloverleaf), later it was introduced even a four wheel drive version, firstly named Permanent 4 and then, in May '92, Q4. This was available also as Sportwagon (the compact station wagon body designed by Pininfarina).

Several versions were introduced just before stopping production, among these there were the Feeling, the Hit and the most famous Imola. This last one was a very interesting model since it had the 1351cc IE boxer engine with a 33 16V QV body (spoilers, body kit, seats and alloy rims). The Imola had slightly different suspensions, too.
The Feeling and the Hit (probably not sold everywhere) had the same 1351 engine, only different interiors.

While the 33 was still available Alfa Romeo started to produce its brand new hatchback, the 145, then came the 146. These were equipped with the same engines, including a slightly modified 1.7 16V, but, because they're were heavier than the 33 (almost +200 kgs), overall performances and fuel consumption were worse.
For these reasons Alfa Romeo decided to use the new Twin Spark 16V engines instead and so the glorious and very reliable boxer engine was abandoned.
With the birth of the 145 and 146 the SportWagon concept was abandoned too and many Alfisti who needed a spacious fast family car are still missing that kind of compact station wagon.

The 33 was a true Alfa: a revolutionary, powerful and very reliable engine into a no-nonsense car. It was a fast family car that surely will earn reputation among the Alfisti crowd year after year.
Not to be missed an used 33 16V as it'll quickly become a classic. The Italian ancient car magazine Ruoteclassiche has already declared this car a classica domani that is to say a classic tomorrow.

Copyright © 1997 Lucio Cadeddu